NOS News•today, 05:32•Amended today, 11:33
Minister Christianne van der Wal (Nature and Nitrogen, VVD) has relaxed the nitrogen rules for Schiphol Airport in recent years, despite negative advice from her highest nitrogen official. This made it easier for Schiphol to obtain a nature permit, so the number of flights did not have to be reduced. NRC reports this based on internal documents from the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV), which were requested by environmental organization Mobilization for the Environment (MOB).
In a response, a Van der Wal spokesperson said that Schiphol has received the same treatment as other private parties that settle externally with another private company. External netting is taking over the nitrogen space that is created when someone stops at a different location.
According to the ministry, the government is responsible for the state of nature, but a private party does not have to check whether there is still space that needs to be restored first.
‘Question marks experts’
Experts tell the newspaper that the permit will probably not stand up in court. Other companies would not be able to claim the relaxation.
The relaxation concerned, among other things, nine farms near the airport, which Schiphol purchased at the beginning of last year. The documents show that Schiphol was allowed to use the entire amount of nitrogen saved because the farms stopped to compensate for its own nitrogen emissions. The government did not check whether there are nature reserves in the area that first need to be restored, although this is required according to European rules, according to the newspaper. Other Dutch companies are held to this, writes NRC.
Deliberately slowed down
Ministry officials deliberately worked slowly on a new nature permit, the newspaper continues. This would allow the airport to get away with high emissions for longer. When the nature permit was finally granted to Schiphol last autumn, the ministry already took into account that nature organizations would initiate legal proceedings against this, but in the meantime time had been gained: “The expectation is that this will take at least a year and a half,” the officials write according to NRC to Van der Wal.
The ministry denies to the NOS that there was a conscious training of the permit: “Based on evolving insights and partly in response to submitted views and advice from the Environmental Impact Assessment Committee, the application has been amended and supplemented several times. This costs time and must be done carefully.”
Concerns about employment
The ministry’s favorable attitude towards the airport largely stems from concerns about the possible disappearance of flights and therefore also employment, writes NRC.
Environmental law researcher Ralph Frijns criticizes the newspaper for a tactic of delay by the ministry: “You have to adhere to the law, especially as a central government.”
